Sunday December 22, 2013, 10:32 am
In a new HuffPost/YouGov poll, only 36 percent of Americans reported having "a lot" of trust that information they get from scientists is accurate and reliable. Fifty-one percent said they trust that information only a little, and another 6 percent said they don't trust it at all.

Science journalists fared even worse in the poll. Only 12 percent of respondents said they had a lot of trust in journalists to get the facts right in their stories about scientific studies. Fifty-seven percent said they have a little bit of trust, while 26 percent said they don't trust journalists at all to accurately report on scientific studies.

Whatís more, many Americans worry that the results of scientific studies are sometimes tainted by political ideology -- or by pressure from the studiesí corporate sponsors.

A whopping 78 percent of Americans think that information reported in scientific studies is often (34 percent) or sometimes (44 percent) influenced by political ideology, compared to only 18 percent who said that happens rarely (15 percent) or never (3 percent).

Similarly, 82 percent said that they think that scientific findings are often (43 percent) or sometimes (39 percent) influenced by the companies or organizations sponsoring them.

Republicans in the new poll were most likely to say that they have only a little bit of trust in scientists to give accurate and reliable information, and the most likely to say that they think scientific findings may be tainted by political ideology -- possibly reflecting distrust in scientists over topics such as evolution and climate change.

Sunday December 22, 2013, 11:43 am
Too bad. Scientists are the people we have to thank for all this technology, good health, leisure time, etc. we have. If not for scientists, we'd still be living in mud huts and wearing home-made fur coats.

Monday December 23, 2013, 2:39 pm
I think people began losing faith in the accuracy of what scientists were reporting when they began to discover that rather than seeking "truth," they were being swayed by who was funding their research or their own personal goal to be the first to 'discover' or provide something. No one can be believed who holds no ethics - faith or not.

Tuesday December 24, 2013, 8:15 am
I sure as hell will trust a scientist over a Republican climate denier anyday. Obviously research can be flawed, but at least fellow scientists can call the kettle black when it is called for. What are we supposed to do, believe the writings in the bible as "science?" Come on, research is at least an attempt to get at truth versus some blowhard giving their verbal diatribe on what they believe or think they saw, which is usually different than the other witnesses to a situation.